The growing field of early childhood and infant mental health is based on a large body of research that confirms the critical importance of healthy early development on a number of outcomes including social, emotional, cognitive and psychological functioning across the life course. For infants and young children, healthy development means healthy early relationships.  When young children experience close and caring relationships, their brains, bodies and social capacities grow and mature.  When they do not, their capacity to form connections with others and learn about the world in ways that promote school readiness is compromised.

The first in a series of training modules in early development and infant mental health, this online course focuses on the ways in which parents and caretakers nurture young children to provide the building blocks for their healthy development and what happens when healthy early caretaking is absent or compromised. 

Participants who complete this online course will:

• Understand the importance of early relationships in the lives of infants, toddlers and young children.
• Learn ways to assess the quality of the early parent-child or caregiver-child relationship.
• Identify the ways in which early parenting influences the development of the infant, toddler and young child.

I encourage you to visit our Social Work Continuing Education and Professional Development website to learn more about this online course and our other offerings. PDF flyer to print

Sincerely,

Carolyn Joy Dayton, PhD, LP, LMSW, IMH-E®(IV)
Wayne State University
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development
Associate Director, Infant Mental Health Program